Peter J Bussey – Particle Physicist

Peter J Bussey, particle physicistGod is the ultimate explanation, and this includes the explanation for the existence of physical reality, for laws of nature and everything. Let me at this point deal with a commonly encountered “problem” with the existence of God, one that Richard Dawkins and others have employed.It goes that if God is the ultimate cause or the ultimate explanation, what then is the cause of God, or the explanation for God? My reply is that, even in our own world, it is improper to repeat the same investigatory question an indefinite number of times. For example, we ask, “Who designed St Paul’s Cathedral?” and receive the reply: “Sir Christopher Wren.” But, “No help whatever,” objects the sceptic, “because, in that case, who then designed Sir Christopher Wren?” To this, our response will now be that it is an inappropriate question and anyone except a Martian would know that. Different questions will be relevant now.

So, likewise, it is very unlikely that we know the appropriate questions, if any, to ask about God, who is presumably outside time, and is the source of the selfsame rationality that we presume to employ to understand the universe and to frame questions about God.What should perhaps be underlined is that, in the absence of total proof, belief in God will be to some extent a matter of choice.